The Summer King in Germany

Just discovered that The Summer King or should I say Die Nacht Der Elfenkonige (Night of the Elven King?) is now out in Germany. Nobody told me - I'm just the author - but I checked on the Random House Germany site and there it was. It's always very exciting to come out in another country and in another language. The translator is different from the one who translated The Hunter's Moon (though I understand Anne Brauner is translating The Light-Bearer's Daughter) so fingers crossed she is as good. I heard back from several readers that the first translation was excellent. Here's the website if anyone wants to order: www.randomhouse.de/book/editionsearchresult.jsp?pat=OR+Melling&pub=1. It's also for sale on the German amazon. Danke!

Runrig - Cnoc Na Feille / Siol Ghoraidh

As it turns out, I've not only set my new adult book entirely in the Outer Hebrides which I visited a few years back, but those beautiful islands on the edge of the known world are also a setting in the third book of my new young adult series. I know, I know so much I haven't said yet, but all will be revealed ... soon. Here's some brilliant and atmospheric music from those isles: Runrig - amazing Celtic rock band (doubt they use that term themselves) who sing in both English and Scots Gaelic and are still going strong after all these years! (I think one of their lead singers is from Cape Breton Island, Canada, but not sure if it's the blondie or the dark-haired one.)

Jaunting Off

I'm away to New York and Toronto soon. It's all about meeting publishers, but also a sad personal thing in Canada as I attend a memorial for a dear friend who was also a dear friend's partner. A lot of exciting things are happening right now with my work, but I never make announcements until the contracts are signed. (Loose lips sink ships, as we say in the Navy.) Some deals have been concluded, in fact, but I want to present it all as one big KA-BOOM of an announcement. Nope, no hints. Just watch this space.

Harry Clarke, Irish Genius

Harry Clarke has a genius which manifests itself at its highest in stained glass ... I imagine that if one scraped a little the subconscious mind of the artist you would let in a flood of rich colour out of some inner luminous aether, where the fire is more brilliant than the eye can see, and the only way he could recreate that colour for us was by the art he practises.
AE (George Russell)
I had only begun reading The Life and Work of Harry Clarke by Nicola Gordon Bowe, an incredibly researched, detailed and beautifully written book, when I set off for Lough Derg. Can you imagine my shock and joy as I sat in the Basilica on my first night and stared around me? At first I thought, "this must be the work of a student of his, someone following his style, they are magnificent." Then the priest announced that we would be doing The Way of the Cross marked by the stations at each of the windows by the Irish artist, Harry Clarke. I nearly fainted. Do click on the images and expand them. You'll see the exquisite and minute artwork. My favourite window of his is The Eve of St Agnes - jewelled fairy tales in midnight blue - but at the same time, it was truly a gift to see his work in everyday use, as opposed to the formal setting of an art gallery or museum.

Harry Clarke

Research is a Many Splendoured Thing

Truth to tell, I have always wanted to go to Lough Derg, an ancient pilgrimage place on a sacred island in County Donegal. Indeed this is research - for the spiritual novel I am writing - but it is also heart and soul stuff. The total fasting from food begins at midnight tonight and ends at midnight on Sunday. We board the boat tomorrow afternoon. (I'm going with a fellow Sagittarian, always ready for a challenge.) The first day includes 24 hour sleep deprivation. We'll be walking over stones in our bare feet, saying and chanting the Rosary, walking the labyrinth which you see here, praying in the basilica, doing stations and so on. The fast is broken once a day with tea and plain bread. (They say it's the most beautiful cup of tea you'll ever get in your life.) I can't wait. EXTREME PRAYER. I trust I'll have time to make notes but not sure if I'll be able to take photos. These pics are from their website: http://www.loughderg.org/. Will tell you all about it when I return ... if I have the strength to move my arms. [More about this on t'other blog.]